Half-lap for combing machine



June 2, 1964 J. H. NYDAM 3,135,024

HALF-LAP FOR COMBING MACHINE Filed Oct. 4, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Z4 INVENTOR. Mir 1.7 4 JOHN H. NYDAM zzum/adyud,\%tu,

his ATTORNEYS June 2, 1964 J. H. NYDAM 3,135,024

HALF-LAP FOR COMBING MACHINE Filed Oct. 4, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,135,024 HALF-LAP FOR COMBIN G MACHINE John H. Nydain, North Uxbridge, Mass., assignor t0 Whitin Machine Works, Whitinsville, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Oct. 4, 1960, Ser. No. 69,379 6 Claims. (Cl. 19-234) The present invention relates to combing machines by means of which textile fibers may be combed to bring the fibers more nearly into parallel relationship with one another than the relationship of the fibers in the material furnished to the combing machine. More particularly, the invention relates to so-called half-laps, which are the combing elements forming one part of combing machines that have heretofore been used in the art. These halflaps are illustrated in the patents to Wood, No. 1,610,407, and Lanning, No. 1,620,031, and comprise, generally speaking, segmental beds within which a multiplicity of needles are secured, the needles being positioned in the half-laps so that they extend generally forwardly in the direction of rotation, that is, they lie in planes which extend at angles to radii of the cylinders on which the half-laps are mounted and the points of the needles project outwardly and forwardly, in the direction of rotation.

It is an object of this invention to provide half-laps of such structure that the needles may be secured in operating positions to accomplish a more effective combing action than heretofore possible in existing structures.

In addition to the foregoing, an object of the invention is to provide a half-lap structure wherein the cleaning of the needles may be accomplished effectively during operation of the machine.

A further object of the invention is to provide a halflap structure by means of which thicker laps may be combed than those combed on machines now available.

Other and further objects of the invention will appear as it is described in further detail in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a view in end elevation showing a half-lap constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a View in section, taken on the plane indicated by the line 22 of FIG. 1, and looking in the direction of the arrows, this view being partially broken away to illustrate certain details of the structure;

FIG. 3 is a partial View in elevation showing a needle bar and needles secured thereto in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a view in end elevation of the needle bar and needles illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing a modified version of the invention wherein the needles are spaced at progressively greater distances in the direction of rotation of the lap; and

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 showing a further modification of the invention wherein the spacing of the needles is increased in stages from front to back of the half-lap.

Referring to the above drawings, a cylinder shaft is shown at 10 having secured thereto a cylinder body 11, screws 12 being provided for this purpose in accordance with standard practice. To the cylinder body there is secured a needle bed 13, the needle bed being formed with supporting arms 14 and cylindrically formed plates 15 that are adapted to be secured to the cylinder body 11 by means of screws 16. A plain segment 1.7 is provided in accordance with standard practice.

Referring now to the needle bed 13, it will be seen that the outer surface 18 thereof is formed so that, when mounted in the position illustrated in FIG. 1, it is concentric with the cylinder body 11 and is formed with a plurality of slots 19 within which needle bar assemblies 20 are adapted to be received.

The needle bar assemblies are illustrated in detail in FIGS. 3 and 4 and comprise needle bars 21 having secured thereto, as, for example, by soldering, a plurality of needles 22. The butts 23 of the needles extend below the bottom edge of the needle bars 21 and all lie in a common plane, as illustrated in FIG. 3. It will be seen that the roots 24 of the needles lie in a plane at least as high as the top edge of the needle bar 21 and thus no depression is present between the sloping surface of the needle points and the needle bar. In the structure shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the needle roots lie somewhat above the top edge of the needle bar 21 but, as above-mentioned, the important point is that the needle roots should not lie below this top edge. In this fashion, the cleaning brush that is used in operation can reach beyond the working zone of the needles and lift out any lint or foreign matter that may have become lodged in the spaces between the needles.

It will be seen, from FIG. 1, that the combined width of the needle bar 21 and the needles 22 is such as to form a desired fit when in operating position. In practice it is preferred that the width of the slot is very slightly greater than the combined thickness of the needle bar and needles so that a bonding material, preferably of heatset character, may be inserted within the lower portions of the slots to secure the needle bar assemblies in the positions illustrated in FIG. 1.

By providing the structure illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the butts of the needles provide an effective positioning surface to assure that the needle points all lie in the same plane that is concentric with the needle bed and cylinder and thus every needle exerts an effective and uniform combing action during operation. The space that lies beneath the needle bars serves to receive excess bonding material and to permit the butts of the needles to serve as the positioning members'to assure the correct positioning of the needles in the fashion above-mentioned.

A further important feature of the invention is that the top edges of the needle bars must be so positioned that the forward corners thereof do not extend above the outer peripheral surface 18 of the needle bed. This assures that there will be no cavities extending forwardly in the direction of rotation to catch lint and other foreign material, and the improved structure of this invention thus greatly facilitates the cleaning operation of the half-lap.

In assembling the half-lap structure above-described, the lower portions of the needle bars are dipped into a bath of a suitable bonding material or cement and the bars then inserted into the proper slots with the butt ends of the needles engaging the bottoms of the slots. The needle bed is then placed in an oven and heated to set the bonding material, after which the half-lap is cleaned of any surplus bonding material that might exist on the outer surface thereof.

In the form of the invention shown in FIG. 5, the needle bed is formed with slots 19 that are spaced in a circumferential direction progressively greater distances from front to back. As used herein, the front of the half-lap means the lefthand end as viewed in FIG. 5 and refers to the direction of rotation of the half-lap. In other words, in FIG. 5, the direction of rotation of the half-lap is counterclockwise and the needles at the lefthand side of the view are the front needles. As will be apparent from FIG. 5, the spacing of the needles becomes progressively greater from front to back, that is, from left to right. I

As is Well understood in the art, the front needles are always thicker or heavier than the back needles, and it has been common practice to form the mechanism so that the front needles protrude farther from the axis of the half-lap than the back needles in order that the latter, being finer, will be protected. In accordance with the present invention, all of the needle extensions are the same, that is, the points of all of the needles lie substantially the same distance from the axis of the half-lap. By spacing the back needles farther apart in a circumferential direction, the cleaning of the fibers from the needles is facilitated and a more effective operation results. The extension of the back needles into the circumfereutial plane of the front needles enables the fine needles to penetrate farther and thus comb a thicker lap. This is possible by reason of the greater spacing of the back needles which permits them to be maintained comparatively clean during the operation.

As will be seen in FIG. 6, a further modified form of the invention utilizes a staging of the spacing of the needles so that the needles within the arc indicated at 26 are all spaced 5 apart circumferentially. Within the are 27, the needles are spaced 6 apart whereas, within the are 28, the needles are spaced 6 30 apart. The slots may be angularly displaced with respect to a radius at any suitable angle, of which the 37 angle shown in FIGURE 6 is typical, and the open end of the slot subtends an arc of approximately 2 30. In all other respects, the needle positioning (that is, the extensions) is the same as in FIG. 5.

This application is a continuation-in-part of applicant's co-pending application Serial No. 21,772, filed April 12, 1960, now abandoned.

While the invention has been described with reference to the specific structure shown in the accompanying drawings, it is not to be limited save as described in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A half-lap for combing textile fibers comprising a needle bed having an outer surface provided with a plurality of spaced apart, generally parallel slots extending generally longitudinally thereof, the spacing between said slots increasing progressively from front to back of the needle bed, a needle bar for each of said slots, and a plurality of needles secured in each of said slots by said respective needle bars.

2. A half-lap according to claim 1 wherein the points of the needles extend substantially equal distances beyond the needle bed.

3. A half-lap for combing textile fibers comprising a needle bed having an outer surface provided with a plurality of spaced apart, generally parallel slots extending generally longitudinally thereof, the spacing between said slots increasing progressively from front to back of the needle bed; a needle bar for each of said slots, the width of each of the bars in the direction of the depth of the slots being less than the depth of the slots, and a plurality of needles secured to each of the bars, the needles being longer than the Width of the bars and extending beyond the bars to engage the bottoms of the slots and space the bars from the bottoms of the slots.

4. In a half-lap for combing textile fibers, the improvement comprising a needle bed having an outer surface provided with a plurality of rows of needles, said rows of needles extending generally longitudinally of the bed and spaced from each other by amounts increasing progressively from front to back of the needle bed.

5. In a half-lap for combing textile fibers, the improvement comprising a needle bed having an outer surface provided with a plurality of rows of needles, said rows of needles extending generally longitudinally of the bed and comprising more than two stages each including a plurality of rows, the spacing between successive rows being the same within each stage but increasing for each successive stage from front to back of the needle bed.

6. A half-lap for combing textile fibers comprising a needle bed having an outer surface provided with a plurality of spaced apart, generally parallel slots extending generally longitudinally thereof, said slots comprising more than two stages each including a plurality of slots, the spacing between successive slots being the same within each stage but increasing for each successive stage from front to back of the needle bed, a needle bar for each of said slots, and a plurality of needles secured in each of said slots by said respective needle bars.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 166,407 Plantron Aug. 3, 1875 992,216 Lassig May 11, 1911 1,408,438 Bricka May 7, 1922 1,431,904 Bohmer Oct. 10, 1922 1,971,461 Nasmith Aug. 28, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS 361,016 France Mar. 23, 1905 155,676 Germany Nov. 15, 1904 

4. IN A HALF-LAP FOR COMBING TEXTILE FIBERS, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING A NEEDLE BED HAVING AN OUTER SURFACE PROVIDED WITH A PLURALITY OF ROWS OF NEEDLES, SAID ROWS OF NEEDLES EXTENDING GENERALLY LONGITUDINALLY OF THE BED AND SPACED FROM EACH OTHER BY AMOUNTS INCREASING PROGRESSIVELY FROM FRONT TO BACK OF THE NEEDLE BED. 